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I've noticed in the Mountain Home to Boise area that the Whistle Pig colonies have completely collapsed. Two years ago they were probably at their peak, but last spring/early summer many, many were gone. Then this year I've only seen one colony, and of course they are underground again for the year. Just wondering if any other folk noticed they are mostly gone.
Besides the Whistle Pigs, I'm wondering what secondary effect there might have been? I don't see as many birds around this year, a couple in particular are much fewer Killdeer and not many redwing black birds. They seem to be way, way down in population too. I wonder if raptors and crows/magpies have switched to raiding their nests more in search of food they used to get from Whistle Pigs (caught live or dead on the roads). Something has to keep feeding these predator and scavenger birds. If it's not Whistle Pigs, then what is the next choice in their food chain?
Anyway, hopefully it's a short-term colony collapse and the little whistlers will be back out in force in a couple years.
Many rodent populations experience multi-year cycles. While I can't find anything specific for the Piute Ground Squirrel, I've seen it first hand hunting rabbit over the years. Populations build over multiple years in an area, followed by population crash, then the cycle repeats. We don't know for sure what causes this, other than perhaps a delayed feedback process affected by population density, such as food, predation, or disease -- or maybe a combination of factors. My guess is that populations will start recovering in future years.
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